riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Harvest Festival celebration
when: The month of November.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

harvest festival

In the days leading up to November 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The Harvest Festival. This holiday is in celebration of the harvest season and autumn, as the moon transitions into its winter period, and is characterized by indulging in the plenty that comes with the harvest season with loved ones, cleaning house figuratively and literally, and making sure that those in need don't suffer during the winter. Celebrations tend to focus around food and charity, with citizens enjoying and sharing cultural meals and sharing stories, or participating in any of the wide range of charity projects and events going on during this season.

a celebration of sharing

The biggest traditions of the Harvest Festival are centered around giving and sharing. Charity is central, and the each year the city sets up a large open tent with warm places to rest for anyone who might be homeless and a table capable of sitting over 50 people at any given time, with a round-the-clock catered feast for anyone who wants to sit and have a meal with anyone else who's dropped by. Besides this, there are a wide variety of events benefiting charities in the city, including a karaoke concert, stray animal round up, and the annual "stuff swap" where residents clean their homes and donate anything they don't need to those who might be lacking. There is also a tradition of writing down repressed or bottled up thoughts, feelings, regrets, sins, and other troubles and tossing them into a bonfire to go into winter with a clean soul.

i. harvest feast & stuff swap

For the first few days of November, anyone dropping by the city center will notice a large tent structure being put into place - by November 3rd, as the last of October's ghosts fade into nonexistence, a veritable banquet hall will have been sent up. For a week following the setup, anyone who drops by the hall and steps inside will see a large table laden with food. Bread, stew, fruits and vegetables, soups, roasted meat, and almost anything else one can think of will be on the table, along with plates, silverware, and cups. Anyone is free to take a plate, settle down at the table, and help themselves to a meal.

The Feast is staffed entirely by volunteers, who do the cooking, cleaning, and tidy up the dishes and area afterwards, keeping the constant stream of food coming. Whether your character is heading in to sit beside a stranger and strike up a conversation, or volunteering their time, energy, or cooking skills to the hall, they're more than welcome.

One corner of the hall is entirely dedicated to the yearly "stuff swap." There's a long-standing tradition of fall cleaning in Riverview Quarantine, where residents will thoroughly clean their homes and rid themselves of excess in preparation for the winter. The extra things that aren't needed can be dropped off at the city center where the Feast is set up, and anyone who is in need of a particular item that has been donated can take it free of charge. This is an honor system, so please be kind to others! (Or don't.)

ii. charity karaoke

On the weekend of November 10th and 11th, while the Feast will be cleared away, the tent is being repurposed for a new event - a Karaoke Concert for the needy! Set up as a makeshift bar and lounge area, the space will be fronted by a large stage where singles or groups of people can choose a song and karaoke their hearts out to a crowd of spectators. There's a by-donation cover fee, and guests are encouraged to reward the best (or most hilariously bad) renditions of beloved songs from across the multiverse with digital "tips" that are transferred to the karaoke performer's charity of choice.

Whether you're a spectator tipping a performer, or a performer who's singing their heart out on the stage to benefit a variety of charities from the homeless to the animal shelter to children in need (and almost anything else you can think of), the Karaoke Concert is both hilarious and heartwarming.

iii. stray animal roundup

One of the main charity events that seems to happen every year is the stray roundup. As the seasons turn and it gets colder and colder at night, many residents who have a soft spot for animals band together to round up as many stray animals as possible and take them to shelters where they can be rehabilitated, given a warm bath, fed, and have a safe place to sleep. Volunteers take to the streets with crates and nets or restraining poles as well as generous bags of treats of food to entice the strays with, and capture them safely to be brought back to the various animal shelters around the Quarantine. Any animal who's caught is put up for adoption, and volunteers are encouraged to take home any strays that they bond particularly well with, or are invited to foster animals in their homes.

Whether your character is a die-hard animal lover, looking for a new pet, or just wants some wacky hijinks trying to chase a wily critter around the streets, they'll be suited up with supplies by other volunteers and released into the fray. The most common animals to be found are cats, dogs, and small domesticated foxes, but feel free to assume that your character is rounding up a reptile, rodent, bird, or a domesticated alien critter. Playing a thread with this prompt is a great opportunity to get a cute alien pet for your character without spending AP.

iv. letting go

On the evening of November 15th, a series of large bonfires will be set up all along the beaches of the river, and as the night falls, people begin migrating to the beaches from all over the city carrying slips of paper in a wide variety of colors with words written on them in a wide variety of languages, and throwing them into the fires. This is a way of psychologically and emotionally cleaning house for the residents of the Quarantine, because the papers they bring contain the stories of their pain, poems written about the feelings they bottle up, a venting of their anger and fear and resentment, all to be eaten up by the flames and washed away by the river with the next rain.

No matter where a person comes from, they carry pain and suffering and hurts that they must hide. This is a welcome opportunity for characters to write out their thoughts and feelings and release them. And if the symbolism of burning them isn't enough, there are always other people around the fires who are willing to listen, to hear all those things that people keep locked up inside. Share a story willingly, listen to someone's story, or just get caught holding your deepest darkest secrets on a really vulnerable piece of paper...it's up to you.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the Harvest Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i & iii: Bastien Grivet; image ii & iv: unknown (stock/hobbiton)

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Letting go. It's an appealing thought, yet Beverly finds it hard to write anything down and so her pen hovers uncertainly above her blank piece of paper. Not so for Ciel, sitting a little ways away from her - he can't seem to stop writing. She's not nearly so rude as to try to look at what he's writing, but has to admit to being curious, all the same. She watches as he folds his paper up and tosses it on the flames before she makes her way over to him. For a moment, she stands silently watching the paper curl into smoke and ashes.]

You seem to have a lot on your mind.

[He'd actually been so caught up in his writing that he hadn't noticed who else is around him until he's approached. It tells him just how comfortable he's gotten with Riverview and the people here already.

Ciel is a little slow to turn, eye still on the fire and then turns to focus on Beverly. He manages a little smile.]

I've committed a lot of sins.

[That answer elicits a frown from her. How many sins could a fourteen year old have weighing on him?]

Did this... help, at all?

[She be surprised. And probably a little disturbed. Ciel's unfortunate duty as the Queen's Watchdog was frequently accompanied by less than pleasant deeds.]

A bit, I suppose. Some things aren't so easy to let go of though, even here.

It's a start, though, right?

It is.

[He agrees and manages a smile for her.]

It helps that I have friends here, like you and Jason and Undertaker. My father is here now as well.

Is he? I didn't know!

[She returns his smile easily.]

You'll have to introduce us!

He's only recently arrived but I'd be glad to introduce you. He's moved in with Undertaker and I.

[So, if she visits, good chance she'll run into Vincent.

He debates asking her to avoid mentioning his asthma but he doesn't want to answer too many questions.]

Have you let anything go?

[She gives him a rueful smile.]

Not very successfully I don't think.

I'm sorry to hear that.

[And, in a rare twist of fate, he actually is.]

If there's anything at all we can do, please feel free to ask. You've been a good friend, to us. [He's slowly gotten used to saying 'friend' sincerely, at least.]

I'm afraid there's not much anyone can do about it.

[She smiles softly.]

But thank you.

No, but having the support of others can help, I imagine. So I hope, if you ever need to talk, you'll be able to trust in me for that.

[He knows there are some things she wouldn't want to discuss with a fourteen year old but the offer would stand.]

[To be fair, it's not only because he's fourteen - there are very few people she wants to talk to about her and Jean-Luc's complicated relationship.)

I do trust you, but I'll be okay, I promise.

[He's okay with not being the confidant for that. He still has trouble with his own feelings regarding his fiancee.]

I'm glad to hear that but the offer stands, of course. You're a good person, you deserve as much.

[Such a sweet boy!]

Well... I suppose there is one thing you could do for me...

[He tries to be. Sometimes.]

Oh? I'll be glad to, what is it?

[He's definitely curious, even with the offer, there wasn't a lot he could do.]

May I have a hug? You're not too old for that yet, are you?

A- a hug?

[She's caught him by surprise, congratulations.]

I suppose I'm not too old. [Just not used to it, aside from hugging Lizzie. So he's a little awkward about it.]

[Fortunately, Beverly can more than make up for his awkwardness. Her hug is warm and genuine, and doesn't linger too long. In truth, she feels he probably needs it as much as she does, if not more so.]

Thank you.

[This is a different kind of hug from what he's used to. It's not sudden or nearly bone-crushing like Lizzie's hugs.

His cheeks are red when they part.]

That's nothing to really thank me for.

[Her expression is full of fondness as she shakes her head.]

It's not nothing. Sometimes... you just need a hug.

[His cheeks remain a bit red.]

I suppose. The only person that really hugs me anymore, before this place, was Lizzie.

Your fiancé, right?

Mhm. Even though Aunt Francis insists it's unbecoming a lady, she does it anyway.

[But they're all skilled with swords which could be considered the most unladylike. He never dares argue though.]

[Stars. Worrying about what's ladylike instead of the fact that they've betrothed a couple of fourteen year olds to one another.]

Do you miss her?

letting go

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